Seven due in court on complicity charges over deadly 2018 Carcassonne terror attacks

The trial of suspects allegedly complicit in the planning of the 2018 Trèbes and Carcassonne terrorist attacks in the south of France opens on Monday in Paris. Three men were shot dead in a car park and a supermarket, a receptionist was then taken hostage until a gendarme, Arnaud Beltrame, gave himself up to take the place of the captive, at the cost of his life. 

On the morning of 23 March 2018, Radouane Lakdim, a 25-year-old small-time drug dealer from a housing estate in Carcassonne, who was highly radicalised and under police surveillance, went to a car park with a reputation as a gay meeting place.

He took aim and shot at two men in a car. One of them, aged 61, died; the other was seriously injured. 

Lakdim then continued his journey by car to Carcassonne, passing four police officers jogging and firing in their direction, seriously injuring one of them.

Shortly before 10.30am the assailant arrived at a Super U supermarket in Trèbes, a town close to Carcassonne, where he shot the shop's 50-year-old head butcher and a customer, a 65-year-old retired bricklayer, in the head. 

He proceeded to shout "Allah Akbar," screamed abuse at people between the aisles, brandished his revolver and then took a 39-year-old shop assistant hostage.

He ordered her to call the police, and while on the phone, he left no doubt as to his motives, introducing himself as an "Islamic State brigadier," referring to France's bombing raids in Syria, demanding the release of Salah Abdeslam – the only surviving member of the 13 November 2015 attackers serving a life sentence in France.

• French police "hero" who took place of hostage dies

Beltrame's heroism honoured 

After an hour, 44-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, entered and convinced the jihadist to take him hostage instead of the female officer.

The GIGN – the gendarmerie's elite intervention unit – launched an assault at around 2.30pm. Radouane Lakdim was shot dead.

Arnaud Beltrame, who received serious knife wounds to the neck from the assailant, died in hospital. 

Days later, a national tribute was paid to Beltrame at Les Invalides in Paris, who was unanimously described as a "hero".

"His greatness stunned France," President Emmanuel Macron said.

'Criminal terrorist conspiracy' charges

The attack had been claimed by the Islamic State armed group – an opportunistic claim according to the investigators – as no contact between the assailant and the terrorist organisation had been established.

None of the seven people close to Radouane Lakdim – six men and one woman, aged between 24 and 35 – will be tried before the Paris Special Court for complicity in the crimes committed. 

They will be tried primarily for "criminal terrorist conspiracy," punishable by a maximum of 30 years' imprisonment. 

The court will hear from Marine Pequignot, Radouane Lakdim's girlfriend at the time – she was 18 – who was also highly radicalised.

According to the prosecution, she knew what he was capable of. 

She reportedly told investigators that he loved weapons, that he had gathered "five or six machetes and knives," "two pump-action shotguns" and a pistol, often saying that "he was going to lose it with the miscreants."

Suspected accomplices in court

Also on trial is Radouane Lakdim's brother-in-law, Ahmed Arfaoui, who is suspected of having rushed to "clean" the jihadist's flat on the day of the attack before the police searched his premises, taking a large bag full of his belongings. 

Meanwhile, Samir Manaa, a friend who accompanied Radouane Lakdim to the hunting and fishing shop where the attacker bought the knife that fatally wounded Arnaud Beltrame, is also due to appear in court.

According to the prosecution, Manaa was aware of "his jihadist tendencies and his dangerousness".

Reda El Yaakoubi, who is considered to be the "leader" of the drugs trade on the estate, is accused in particular of having given Radouane Lakdim work, "thereby helping the attacker materially and financially", even though he was "perfectly aware" of his state of mind. 

The trial is scheduled to last until 23 February.